Publication:

An epidemiological study to find out the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B in a rural population of Kashmir valley

Background Hepatitis B continues to pose a tremendous burden of disease with approximately 240 million people having chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection globally. The prevalence of HBV infection varies widely, with rates ranging from 0.1% to 20% in different parts of the world.

Methods This Community based Cross sectional study was carried out for a period of one year (2015-2016) in bock Hajin of Kashmir to find out the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and various risk factors associated with it.1861 subjects consented and participated in the study. A semi structured, pre tested, self-designed questionnaire was used to gather requisite information. Both screening as well as confirmatory tests were used to find out the seroprevalence of HBsAg in the study population.

Results Out of 1861 participants, 65.1% were females and 34.9% were males. All study participants were Muslims with 64.4% belonging to Sunni sec. 67.3% belonged to age group 10-40 years. Prevalence of hepatitis B infection in the study population was 0.9%. Gender, occupation, education and treatment by quacks were significantly associated with seropositivity. Only 76 (4.1%) of the participants had some knowledge about hepatitis B.

Conclusions The study reveals that the seroprevalence of hepatitis B is very low in the study population. It also reflects a low awareness level of population regarding hepatitis B infection thus demanding timely intervention in the form of awareness campaigns to keep transmission under check.